Five or Flop: the Best (and Worst) Historical Fiction Has to Offer
Welcome to Five or Flop, a podcast for the best (and worst) historical fiction has to offer! Each week, we'll be reading and reviewing a different historical fiction book on a scale from flop to five. Make sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates! Have a book you want us to read? Send us a recommendation: https://forms.gle/1JroxLkK157zpa9N8 Read along with us on StoryGraph! Join the Five or Flop: Season One Reading Challenge and track your progress: https://bit.ly/3T7z8jO
Reviewing The Handmaiden: Our Final Flop Film
For the last bonus episode before season five begins, we're watching The Handmaiden, the Korean adaptation of Fingersmith!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading Challenge is live on StoryGraph! Find it here: https://rb.gy/2qehsn
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Watching The Color Purple: No Flops Here!
We're back to movies, watching the musical version of The Color Purple! Somehow, Whoopi Goldberg is still here?
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Our Season Five Reading Challenge is live on StoryGraph! Find it here: https://rb.gy/2qehsn
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The Five or Flop Awards: Ranking Four Seasons of Prizewinners
Over the seasons, Grace and Erin have read a lot of award-winning novels, from the Pulitzer, to the Booker, to the... British Fantasy Award? Now, it's time to decide who deserved the honor!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season...
Watching The Letter: The Flopverse of W. Somerset Maugham
For our first bonus episode following Season Four, we're diving back into The Letter cinematic universe and watching the Bette Davis movie! Do we recommend it? Well, that's up to interpretation.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading...
The Color Purple by Alice Walker: Season Four Has Finished Flopping
It's the big season finale this week, and we're reading The Color Purple! We look back on the highs and lows of the season, but first we have a discussion about how classics age and what to do when an author betrays the themes of their most famous work.
Here is the article Grace cites: Fact and Fiction in Alice Walker's The Color Purple, by Jacqueline Jones.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it...
Jews Queers Germans by Martin Duberman: The Most Notorious Flop on the Pod
We're walking a thin genre line in today's episode - come with us as we explore Jews Queers Germans by Martin Duberman!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading Challenge...
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: Fine or Flop?
We're discussing our two favorite topics this week- pacing and plot twists- as we read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading Challenge on StoryGraph: http...
Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia: Everything’s Flop Babe
We're excited to introduce a new subgenre to the pod this week with our first mystery novel! Find out the person, place, and weapon in this week's episode on Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod...
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng: Flopping on the Veranda
We're crossing decades and oceans this week, and juggling tons of real-life historical figures: we're reading The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four...
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides: Flop Dog Stands
We're two-thirds of the way through Season 4, and this week is a big one: we're reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides! The book covers a lot of ground, we have a lot of thoughts, and the historical accuracy section is a lot longer than usual!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us...
Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta: Flopping in a Feminist Modern Way
Cantoras, Part 2? Grace and Erin disagree over this week's book, Under the Udala Trees, but we're excited to return to an era we previously visited in Season 2!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join...
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall: Premise Five, Practice Flop
This week, we tackle our romance pick for the season: A Lady for a Duke, a classic historical romance with an LGBTQ+ twist!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading...
Cantoras by Caro de Robertis: Erin's Flight Flops Again
Erin's back from Ireland with another plane story, Grace's AC is on full blast, and we have a new book and a new era on deck: Cantoras by Caro de Robertis, set in 1970s Uruguay!
Note: Erin was correct in the episode! The Thirty Names of Night did win the Stonewall Book Award in 2021.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four...
Daughters of the Deer by Danielle Daniel: How Do You Say Flop in French?
It's a special week, not only because we're reading Daughters of the Deer, but because we are joined by a special guest host: Jen! Will this episode be streamed more than Love in the Time of Cholera? Let's find out!
The queer indigenous language source cited by Erin in the historical accuracy section can be found here: https://queerlanguage.com/2018/12/20/queer-indigenous-language-and-identity-north-america/
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine...
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue: Finally Free From Flops
We're off to Ireland (and so is Erin) this week, reading The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue! Hopefully, Erin doesn't catch the Spanish flu while she's there.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
<...The Persian Boy by Mary Renault: Alexander the Flop
This week, Erin confronts an old enemy when we read Mary Renault's The Persian Boy, the second in her Alexander the Great trilogy.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Four Reading...
The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar: An Unprecedented Number of Flops in NYC
In this episode, we're headed to both Syria AND Little Syria with The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar! We hope you like birds, because there certainly are an unprecedented number of them.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for...
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher: Camelflop
We're back this week with another audiobook and another Grace and Erin disagreement: it's Arthurian legend time, and we're reading Gwen and Art Are Not in Love!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join...
Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon: Floppy Bottom
Five or Flop is back, and with the help of a special guest, we're kicking off Reading Rainbow with Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon! Are we more excited to discuss a book set in DC, or an adaptation starring Jonathan Bailey? Listen and find out!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Four is Reading Rainbow.
Leave us a review and give...
Somehow Five AND Flop: HBO's Dear America Film Adaptations
It's the final bonus episode of Season 3, and it's a special one- we're watching two half-hour long short film adaptations of So Far From Home and Cleopatra!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
...
Flop for Making Us Cry: Watching Ashes in the Snow
We're back with a far less happy movie adaptation. We're watching Ashes in the Snow, the movie version of Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys! Join us for a good cry and more identifying where we know the cast from.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow...
Five Cast, Flop Soundtrack: The Catherine, Called Birdy Movie
It's the most anticipated adaptation of season three: today we're watching Lena Dunham's film adaptation of Catherine, Called Birdy!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Three Reading Challenge on StoryGraph...
The Fives and Flops to Rule Them All: A Complete Podcast Ranking
We're back from a brief hiatus with our first between-season bonus episode! In this episode, we're revisiting all of our past reads and choosing the floppiest flops, the finest fines, and the fivest fives.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod...
Royal Diaries Part Two: Final Grade is Flop
It must be time for summer break, because it's the end of Back to School! We're wrapping up this week with Erin's Royal Diaries picks, reading about Anastasia, Cleopatra, and Marie Antoinette. We also rank all the books from the entire season, and tease the theme for season four!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave...
Royal Diaries Part One: Princess of Flops
The first part of the two-part season finale is here, and it's our last series overview: the Royal Diaries! This week, it's Grace's picks, and we're reading about Anacaona, Jahanara, and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod...
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis: Grace, Erin, and the Flopping Fives of the Podcast!!!!!
We're back to Newbery winners this week with a classic of elementary school libraries everywhere- it's Bud, Not Buddy!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Three Reading Challenge on StoryGraph...
Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix: Fire Safety is Not a Flop
This week, we're tackling one of Grace's favorite childhood books and one of both hosts' childhood historical obsessions: we're reading Uprising and learning about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!<...
Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner: Our Hosts' First Flop
*We're still adjusting to our new mics, sorry for any loud portions!
We messed up and accidentally selected a contemporary fiction, so come with us to 1880s Sydney in Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and...
Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn: Tesla’s Flop Machine
*We're adjusting to our new mics, sorry for any loud portions!
Hop aboard the Titanic (for a shockingly short amount of time) to read Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn with us!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for...
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne: Becoming a Magic Flopbrarian
This week, a special guest joins us to discuss another titan of the children's historical fiction series genre: Magic Tree House!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Three Reading Challenge...
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson: Too Many Flops in the Flop Cart
In today's new episode, we're revisiting beloved pod author Laurie Halse Anderson and throwing it back to the 1700s (again). Grab your disinfectant and your masks - it's Fever 1793!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!<...
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys: Winter in Flopberia
This week, we're reading another debut: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Three Reading Challenge on StoryGraph: https://bit.ly/4dcSg6t
<...The Davenports by Krystal Marquis: Cars Five, Carriages Flop
This week we are reading a recent release with The Davenports, a debut novel by Krystal Marquis!
There are a few minutes of iffy audio quality at the end of the episode. We apologize and thank you for bearing with us!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us...
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: Code Name Flop
This week, we're visiting World War II again and talking about Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein! Discussion includes planes, plot twists, and publication orders.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our...
Dear America Part Two: Across the Wide and Flopsome Prairie
In today's new episode, we're finishing up our Dear America two-parter with I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly, Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie, and My Heart is On the Ground.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for...
Dear America Part One: Get These Flops a Happy Ending
In today's new episode, we're revisiting a childhood staple: Dear America! This one is a two-parter. For the first part, we're reading So Far From Home, A Coal Miner's Bridge, and Survival in the Storm.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop...
Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan: Leaving Your Estate to the Flop Society
In today's new episode, we keep the yapping to a minimum so we can keep our ears open for roars! We're reading Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
<...Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman: The Feast Day of Saint Flop
In today's new episode, we're reading Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman and (spoiler alert) making plans to watch the 2022 movie.
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Three Reading Challenge...
Johnny Tremain by Ester Forbes: One if by Land, Two if by Flop
In today's new episode, we're taking another trip back to the American Revolution and reading Johnny Tremain by Ester Forbes!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod for all the latest updates!
Join our Season Three Reading Challenge on...
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss: Newbery Medals and Newbery Flops
In today's new episode, we're revisiting WWII and some childhood classics, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss. Two rereads for Erin, and a former DNF for Grace!
Five or Flop is a podcast dedicated to the best and worst historical fiction has to offer. Each week we'll be reading a new book and rating it on a scale of flop, fine, or five. The theme for Season Three is Back to School.
Leave us a review and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @fiveorflop_pod...
